Railroad-tie.



J. BURNAM. RAILROAD TIE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 7, 1910.

989,331; Patented Apr. 11, 1911.

I1 IIIIIHH H II I lllii'iimmn IHHAHHHHWI I I I 4 I n N. N lnv'e ntor by STg FTQ.

JAMES BURNAM, 0F PEYTONTOWN, KENTUCKY.

RAILROAD-TIE.

Serial No. 570,884.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES BURNAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Peytontown, in the county of Madison and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Railroad-Tie, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to rail ties and fasteners and one of its objects to provide an all metal tie which is durable in construction and can be readily manufactured, said tie having a certain amount of resiliency.

Another object is to provide novel rail fastening devices for use in conjunction with the tie, said devices being easily applied and being adapted to securely hold the rails after they have once been adjusted thereto.

lVith these and other objects in view the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and point-- ed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown. In said drawings :-Figure l is a plan view of a tie constructed in accordance with the present invention the rails being shown fastened thereto and the middle portion of the tie being broken away. Fig. 2 is a section on line A Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the tie, one of the fasteners being shown in section. Fig. t is a detail view of a rail engaging blocl Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates the base of the tie, the same being provided at its ends with integral blocks 2 and these blocks being connected by an integral longitudinally extending web 3 extending upwardly from the base and the upper edge of which is concave longitudinally so that the entire tie is much thinner at the center than at its ends and therefore capable of flexing to a slight extent when subjected to the weight of a car.

Recesses a are formed in the inner faces of the blocks 2 adjacent the upper ends thereof and are shaped to receive the outer base flanges of rails 5. The end portions of the web 3 are disposed in the same plane with the bottom faces of the recesses 4, as indicated at 6, these end portions being widened and beveled at the sides to form dovetails such as shown at 7. Said dovetailed end portions of the web are slidably engaged by rail engaging blocks 8, each of which has a dovetailed groove 9 in the bottom face thereof and a socket 10 in one end. A recess 11 is formed in the opposite end of the block and is so shaped as to receive the inner base flange of a rail 5.

A rod 12 is interposed between the rails and has its ends screw threaded, as shown at 13, these ends being loosely mounted in the sockets l0 and being engaged by nuts 1% bearing against the ends of the blocks 10. Each end of the rod 12 is slotted longitudinally as shown at 15 and is adapted to receive a wedge shaped key 16 the small end of which is formed with a longitudinal clip 17.

In using the tie, the rails 5 are placed upon the end portions of the web 3 and shifted laterally so as to bring their outer base flanges within the recesses 4:. Blocks 8 are then slipped onto the dovetailed portions of the web and forced into engagement with the inner base flanges of the rails, it being understood that the ends of the rod 12 project loosely into the sockets 10 within the blocks. Nuts 14 are then screwed along the rod 12 and against the blocks 8 so as to bind said blocks tightly against the rails after which the wedge shaped keys 16 are driven through the slots 15 so as to bind tightly against the nuts 14. The split ends of the keys can then be bent back so as to prevent the keys from being accidentally withdrawn from the slots. After the parts have thus been adjusted they cannot become loose as a result of any vibration to which they may be subjected.

It will be seen that the entire structure is very simple and durable in construction and is advantageous because of the ease with which it may be set up and applied.

As shown in Fig. 3 the base of the tie may be notched, as at 18, so as to prevent the tie from creeping longitudinally after being placed upon the roadbed.

Various changes can of course be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

hat is claimed is A railway tie including end blocks, an integral web connecting the blocks, said blocks having rail receiving recesses, the upper face of the web being in the same plane with the bottom faces of the recesses, the end portions of the web being widened and leveled to constitute dove-tail portions,

In testimony that I claim the foregoing 10 as my own, I have hereto afiixecl my slgnatnre 1n the presence of two wltnesses.

hi JAMES BURNAM.

mark

recessed rail engaging blocks slidably mounted on said dove-tail portions and each having a smooth bore or recess, a rod interposed between the sliclable blocks and having threaclecl terminals slidably mounted. Within the blocks, and means engaging said threadecl terminals and. bearing against the slidable blocks for shifting saicl blocks relative to the terminals.

Witnesses:

Rom. T. KENNEDY, Ron'r. H. RoYsToN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

